These threats have been going on for ten years now and show no sign of abating

Donal MacIntyre

The documentary maker, whose current show follows Manchester gang the Noonans, said police are investigating several offensive Twitter posts threatening him and his family.

“These threats have been going on for ten years now and show no sign of abating,” he said.

“I don’t do those undercover programmes in this country any more but they still come back to haunt me.”

One of the messages, which has since been removed from the site, read“You grass c***, wish Chelsea killed you and your wife.”

The tweet is believed to refer to the attack on Donal and his wife Ameera in June 2009, which was in retaliation for the reporter’s exposé of football hooligans the Chelsea Head-hunters.

The couple were left with cuts, bruises and swelling in the assault at a Surrey pub.

But dad-of-three Donal, 46, took just eight months off, refusing to let the incident change his life.

During that time he appeared on Dancing On Ice, because he “wanted to do something my daughters could actually watch”.

His current show, At Home With The Noonans, is a follow-up to his 2007 documentary A Very British Gangster.Donal first met crime boss Domenyk Noonan in 2002, when Donal was following his trial on charges of importing heroin.

He said: “The first thing he said to me was, ‘My brother was offered a contract to kill you’.

“I replied, ‘Well, he’s not very good then’.

“I’m scared of the dark. But I’m not scared or intimidated by any- one in the world.”

The series follows Domenyk – who became gang leader after his brother Desmond was murdered in 2005 – and his family over ten years, with a supporting cast of call girls, hit men, doormen, rioters, priests, cage fighters, actors and rappers.

It also follows the progress of Domenyk’s son Bugsy from an innocent seven-year-old to a teenager who ends up in the same youth prison where his dad served time.

Domenyk’s ex, Bugsy’s mum Mandy, who has five other children, also features. She describes her house as like “the reallife Shameless”.

Domenyk has more than 30 convictions for bankrobbery,prison escape and police assault and has faced charges on kidnapping, torture and conspiracy to import drugs. He changed his name by deed poll to Domenyk Lattlay Fottfoy (which stands for “Look after those that look after you and f**k off those that f**k off you”).

Donal said: “He is likable and charming and capable of extreme violence. He speaks Urdu most of the time, breaks in and out of prison and does stand-up comedy.

“You’d be hard-pressed to create a more interesting character.”

Last week Domenyk’s nephew Damien Noonan, 25, and two other members of the mob were jailed for six years and nine months each for beating and kidnapping a man and threatening to blow off his kneecaps.

After the case, at Preston Crown Court, police warned that celebrity status would not keep gangsters out of prison.

Detective Chief Inspector Rick Jackson, from Greater Manchester Police, said: “Irrespective of who you are or think you are, we are determined to catch up with you and make you face the consequences of your actions.”

Donal MacIntyre’s next venture sees him working with Ray Winstone on a series on hooli- ganism aroundthe world. At Home With The Noonans is on Sundays at 10pm on Crime & Investigation Network.